One of the best parts of pickleball is learning fun, new shots to show off to your friends.
Tanner Tomassi and Kyle "ThatPickleballGuy" Koszuta (also known as Team YouTube) shared one of those new shots on Instagram.
It's called the Overhead Misdirect.
You can see it performed in this clip from the APP a few weeks ago:
Kyle Koszuta hits an overhead misdirectGreat shot, right?
Two of Pickleball’s Top Content Creators Are Now a Formidable On-Court Partnership
Tanner Tomassi and Kyle Koszuta took different paths to get to this point in their pickleball careers. Two of the sport’s top content creators are now a formidable duo at the professional level.
How to do the Overhead Misdirect
It wouldn't be a Tanner Tomassi video if it wasn't a great tip offered in "Under 60 Seconds."
The setup
The first thing you want is a high ball that you have plenty of time to get underneath.
Once you identify that, you want to set your paddle and make it seem like you're just about to hit a regular ol' overhead. Keep your paddle high and the face flat toward your opponent.
Execution
On a regular overhead, you'd keep your paddle face closed as you hit through the ball. You may even snap your wrist to put some extra juice on it.
For the overhead misdirect, you actually want to open your paddle face in the opposite direction.
Instead of snapping and closing your paddle face (think of throwing a ball), you want your paddle to open and contact to happen right as you open it.
Mistakes to avoid
Besides closing the paddle face, you could also open it up too much. You want to aim for well inside the line and not try to paint the line (hit it too close to it) as there isn't much room for error.
Another mistake to avoid is trying to hit the ball too hard. This shot has the advantage of concealing your intentions, so adding power is unnecessary.
Now, you have a new shot to show off to your pickleball group.
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